All posts filed under: think piece

Originally posted on Cookies + Sangria: Last week, the Internet was up in arms (but when is it not) about a new app called Peeple, which lets you rate and review other people. It’s been called “Yelp for Humans”, which is how it’s being marketed around the web, hence the outrage among social media users who haven’t done any further research. https://twitter.com/chrissyteigen/status/649566110153510912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw I’m definitely not defending this app, but I wanted to figure out why the founders of it wanted to make it in the first place. These two best friends, one in Canada, one in the U.S., were dedicated to “changing the way people can learn about each other online.” Their solution was Peeple, an app that “allows you to rate and comment about the people you interact with in your daily lives on the following three categories: personal, professional, and dating.” Ok, seems easy enough. But, why sign up to do it? What is the goal to be accomplished here? According to these ladies, their mission is to “find the good in you”, and “enhance your…

Originally posted on Harrison Davis: Is everyone a hypocrite? The short answer to this seemingly simple question is, yes. Obviously the degrees of hypocrisy vary and some are very simple, for example; thinking that gossip is bad but then talking to a friend about someone behind their back. I mean nobody likes to be judged yet, whether this is consciously or unconsciously, we all judge others even if we do not mean to, and sometimes this is justified, such as labelling Adolph Hitler as a dickhead, and this is hypocrisy. Humans are intelligent beings, and as we grow and evolve our ideology and opinions of things change therefore deeming us all ‘hypocrites’ to some extent. For example; I used to despise Justin Bieber and wished that he, along with his high pitched voice and annoyingly catchy songs (mainly ‘Baby’), would leave the public spotlight forever. But now I happen to think he is pretty fly (for a white guy) and actually quite like him. Now this is a very tedious example, but hopefully you get the…

Originally posted on Cookies + Sangria: If you are the kind of person who hates change, you would probably like being a cartoon character. Your whole wardrobe would be stocked with the same one outfit, it is usually the same vague season unless it is Christmas or Halloween, and you never move house (for more than an episode) because that would mean swapping your whole cast of characters. Oh, and if you were married, you stayed married. That was before. Now the sanctity of cartoon marriage is under attack, and I, for one, will not stand for it. It started when news leaked of a Homer and Marge Simpson separation. They have children. And now Kermit and Miss Piggy? They don’t have children … thank God… and they aren’t technically cartoons, they’re puppets… but seriously, won’t someone think of the adults? We don’t like this either. So from this point, I will not wait for the cartoon divorce announcements to come rolling in. These fake marriages are sacred, and if anyone is going to say whether or not they…

Originally posted on A Pinoy Millennial: Welp, I’ve been binge watching the show for a while now. And after covering over half of the total episodes, I conclude that Mahouka embodies plenty of what I like and dislike about recent anime culture surrounding Light Novels. I’ll get straight to the point, while I like the bit of social commentary about equality I’m not sure I’m fond of just how overtly technical-techy this anime is. It’s supposed to be a world where magic meets science. And yet while the visuals can make an impressive half, the other half just feels too much like science fiction instead of an actually balanced blend. That’s a magic gun? I thought it was Apple’s next product. I mean at least Wizard Barristers presented magic in a way that was a lot more straightforward. In the world of Mahouka, spells are reduced to mere computer coding. Good God, shit like this is the reason why I dumped Computer Science back in college. Give me a good, old-fashioned mix of imagination, fear-inducing…

Yesterday I came across a video by model Loey Lane. On May 15, 2015 she posted a video on her YouTube channel about the reasons people express their disdain for plus size women in bikinis. You can see the video here: I always find fat shaming to be a very interesting topic. I have to say, I don’t disagree with Loey. No one should be made to feel a certain way because of what they are wearing or how someone else feels about their body. We definitely live in a country full of people that feel it is their duty to shove their opinion down the throats of their opposers. When I was in high school, I recall having a conversation with my brother that went a bit like this: Him – Dude fate people are disgusting. Me – I can’t believe you said that. *laughter and shock* That’s so disrespectful. Him – It’s true. Me – That’s your opinion. Him – *Laughing* No. That’s everyone’s opinion. Given that my brother can be an asshole, …

Originally posted on F R E E D O M: So, recently I realized, I made a dumb mistake – possibly because I found a more efficient way to accomplish the task and I should’ve researched better before I hastily made the decision. It is way cheaper to fly out of Los Angeles LAX than Seattle Tacoma, wow, I should’ve realized that before…considering LAX is a much bigger airport. But given the flight time and the distance, I had naively thought shorter distance on a flight would mean lower airfare, again, very naive of an assumption as I just found out that is not the case. It actually costs less to fly home from LAX than from SeaTac, even though flying home from LAX would be more lengthy of a journey. The reason is possibly because, “it’s a popular route thing,” people fly in and out of LAX all the time to all sorts of places, hence supply vs. demand vs affordability. Simple economic principle I had not remembered when I was booking. The sad…

Originally posted on The Sunflower Cafe: There was a period in my life when I tried to not fall into any stereotypes. I wanted to seem different and cool, I guess. I didn’t want to be “like other girls,” I didn’t want to get the response “that’s what everyone thinks,” or “that’s what everyone likes.” I wanted to love different movies, different music, and different fashion choices. Much of it came from a guy I was trying to impress early in college. He’d say that most girls were the same and he wanted one that wasn’t like the rest. He didn’t want one who wore boots because all girls wore boots and we all dressed the same apparently. He didn’t want the stereotypical girl who liked Starbucks and shopping. He didn’t want one who was too girly, but she still had to act like a girl in order to grab his attention. It was ridiculous how I continuously tried to pretend I hated things that I liked just so he’d view me as worthy. At…

Originally posted on So-Called Millennial: this is not my niece… this is a Google image… she is NOT a pink kind of girl. My 5-year-old niece recently told my sister that her favorite color is black like Darth Vader and that she “isn’t a pink kind of girl anymore.” Another niece has a crush on Darth Vader, recently admiring him from a far at a trip to Disneyland. My 2-year-old nephew walks around the house humming the Imperial March “Darth Vader” song. “He’s obsessed,” says his mom. In light of my ongoing generational musings, I thought it was time to use pop culture inspiration for useful analysis. “Star Wiirrz,” as my son calls it, is his favorite movie (that he’s never seen). “The one with Loop Skywalker,” he says as he draws a giant circle in the air with his tiny finger. Star Wars has no doubt captured the imagination of several generations. To indulge a bit of family history (and perhaps attract more much-needed nerds to my blog) I’ll sort through the characters we…